Aquarium emergency

[mike550]

@Amy406 I have nothing constructive to add, but really sorry to see this. Good thing you were able to catch it, and hoping for the best!

 

[Pntbll687]

I’ll look into the bins, and I live in Montana. Not the easiest place to get a tank at the moment, LRS just reopened last week

Tractor supply, blain farm and fleet, any farm store since you're in Montana will have a 75g stock tank. Tuff Stuff / Rubbermaid / Miller, are all food and water safe so you'll be ok to use any of those.

 

[Amy406]

I’d get a Rubbermaid water trough from a farm store. You can hang lights over it and all your livestock and rock etc will be fine indefinitely. They’re less than $200 (plus you can resell it later). Would buy you time to get a new tank up even if it takes months.

Omg thank you because resealing is almost bringing me to tears with the thought of how much fear I would have every time I left the house, or went to bed. If I can hold my life stock, rocks, corals, and. Anemone in temporary tubs, for a while, it would be worth it to have the peace of mind

 

[Amy406]

@Amy406 I have nothing constructive to add, but really sorry to see this. Good thing you were able to catch it, and hoping for the best!

Thank you, I think I was just lucky that I’m always paying attention to the sounds around my aquarium, or else I wouldn’t have been paying attention to the drip sound behind my aquarium. Caught it on time to be able to only have to clean up a mess with towels and a good carpet cleaning later

 

[Amy406]

Tractor supply, blain farm and fleet, any farm store since you're in Montana will have a 75g stock tank. Tuff Stuff / Rubbermaid / Miller, are all food and water safe so you'll be ok to use any of those.

I think this is exactly what I need to be doing. Getting some big totes, using my lighting and power heads to keep flow and heaters and making sure that they’re OK until I am able to buy a new aquarium would probably the best for peace of mind

 

[Pntbll687]

I think this is exactly what I need to be doing. Getting some big totes, using my lighting and power heads to keep flow and heaters and making sure that they’re OK until I am able to buy a new aquarium would probably the best for peace of mind

Yes, it would be best.

I had a 190g aquarium that had a chip in one corner about half way up the tank. I filled the chip with silicone, but every time I looked at that tank, I thought about that chip and the seam busting out. It never did, but now I can leave my house without worrying about coming back to a catastrophe.

 

[Amy406]

Yes, it would be best.

I had a 190g aquarium that had a chip in one corner about half way up the tank. I filled the chip with silicone, but every time I looked at that tank, I thought about that chip and the seam busting out. It never did, but now I can leave my house without worrying about coming back to a catastrophe.

You’re exactly right, I can definitely see myself worrying to death about it

 

[Dom]

It is a 90 gallon tank and cheap enough to replace.

Imaging going through all of this and effecting a repair, only to fill it and have it begin leaking again in a week.

I'd replace it.

 

[srobertb]

I was just wondering about those big tractor supply tubs, and whether I should grab one, I don’t know about my LRS , they just re-opened and I don’t know if they’d be able to get me a tank

Worth a call. All my shops here get deliveries Tues/Thurs. they need 24 hrs notice.

Those stock tanks are awesome. I recommend keeping one around

I have a friend who rebuilds and repairs tanks and he confirmed that the tank needs to be taken apart, cleaned, and re-siliconed. He also admitted a lot of tanks use a fancier injection silicone method that most DIYers can’t match.

 

[Amy406]

Worth a call. All my shops here get deliveries Tues/Thurs. they need 24 hrs notice.

Those stock tanks are awesome. I recommend keeping one around

I have a friend who rebuilds and repairs tanks and he confirmed that the tank needs to be taken apart, cleaned, and re-siliconed. He also admitted a lot of tanks use a fancier injection silicone method that most DIYers can’t match.

I’m in contact with my local store, waiting for a reply back. They’re the one that installed it in the first place so I’m hoping that they can help but like I said they just re-opened. I like the stock tank idea. That’s definitely going to help as long as everybody will be OK for a while and I think the peace of mind is definitely worth whatever price tag is on a new tank, I think my first one was $900. I haven’t priced of taking so long.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Good morning everybody,
Last night at about 8 o’clock I noticed that my 90 gallon aquarium was leaking from the bottom somewhere. I wasn’t sure how large the leak was, but I noticed if I wiped it up, the water came right back to the surface of the bottom border and an hour and a half later, we were empty in the aquarium and putting all life stock and rock in Brutes. I added a heater to the brutes and today I’ll put in powerheads, but obviously with everything stacked on top of each other time is not some thing I have a whole lot of and I don’t have a spare aquarium laying around so I have to attempt to remove caulk and reseal this aquarium with an overflow built-in.
Could really use some advice on how to do this correctly as quickly and as easily the first time with no mistakes, because time is not my friend.

I have repaired over 70 tanks and you are in luck- First and foremost, you have to confirm where the leak is coming from.
Once done, this will be a two day process. Take the tank outside and fill with freshwater. Locate the area of leak and mark it with tape. Clean the inside of tank with sponge using the same freshwater. Empty the tank and taking a sharp razor blade cut the sealant from top to bottom.
Then scrape away remaining sealant And wipe clean with rubbing alcohol. vacuum up any loose pieces of silicone.
Using aquarium sealant (aqueon or marineland) - NOT silicone, apply a generous bead into the seam of both panels. Then taking a wet finger or popsicle stick, smooth the sealant from top to bottom evenly packing the top into the corner.
Allow to dry 24-36 hours. Then fill the tank again with fresh cool water and allow to sit 6-8 hours and verify no leak. If passes- go refill your tank. VERIFY THE TANK IS LEVEL ON STAND as it is responsible for leaks in most cases

 

[Amy406]

I have repaired over 70 tanks and you are in luck- First and foremost, you have to confirm where the leak is coming from.
Once done, this will be a two day process. Take the tank outside and fill with freshwater. Locate the area of leak and mark it with tape. Clean the inside of tank with sponge using the same freshwater. Empty the tank and taking a sharp razor blade cut the sealant from top to bottom.
Then scrape away remaining sealant And wipe clean with rubbing alcohol. vacuum up any loose pieces of silicone.
Using aquarium sealant (aqueon or marineland) - NOT silicone, apply a generous bead into the seam of both panels. Then taking a wet finger or popsicle stick, smooth the sealant from top to bottom evenly packing the top into the corner.
Allow to dry 24-36 hours. Then fill the tank again with fresh cool water and allow to sit 6-8 hours and verify no leak. If passes- go refill your tank. VERIFY THE TANK IS LEVEL ON STAND as it is responsible for leaks in most cases

Only problem is our weather right now is 10° and we have snow everywhere. I think I know where the leak is coming from because I was working on one corner of it last week to get some Coraline off and I think I push the blade down too far.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Only problem is our weather right now is 10° and we have snow everywhere. I think I know where the leak is coming from because I was working on one corner of it last week to get some Coraline off and I think I push the blade down too far.

This can be done inside the house. I suggested outdoors to alleviate additional water in house.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

My best advice for trying to reseal this tank is dont bother. Replace the tank. Compared to the cost of everything else, the glass tank itself isnt that much. A standard reef ready 90 will run you $450 to $550. Resealing a tank isnt *that* hard, but how much are you going to trust your first attempt at doing so in the long term? Resealing a tank is also gonna take time. If youre worried about time, go to tractor supply and get a rubbermaid stock tank. You can hook up all youre support equipment and all your livestock will be just fine.

 

[Amy406]

My best advice for trying to reseal this tank is dont bother. Replace the tank. Compared to the cost of everything else, the glass tank itself isnt that much. A standard reef ready 90 will run you $450 to $550. Resealing a tank isnt *that* hard, but how much are you going to trust your first attempt at doing so in the long term? Resealing a tank is also gonna take time. If youre worried about time, go to tractor supply and get a rubbermaid stock tank. You can hook up all youre support equipment and all your livestock will be just fine.

I think about now that’s my game plan, and you’re right that would be my very first attempt and even though I’m pretty confident in what I could do it wouldn’t stop me worrying about the What Ifs every time I left the house or went to bed. Also, my aquarium has a built in overflow in the back and I think it would cost a little bit more but like I said, it’s been so long since I’ve priced tanks, I am text bombing my LRS. On the edge of my wits waiting for a “ small smirk”

 

[Amy406]

This can be done inside the house. I suggested outdoors to alleviate additional water in house.

You’ve done this 70 times, I believe I know where the leak is, I know I have to remove all the caulk in order to start over again and it would have to be super clean. I don’t know if I’m able to get the right supplies to re-seal it. I think and believe that if I can get my hands on the right supplies that I can get it done if I don’t have to take my aquarium outside. I think and believe that if I can get my hands on the right supplies that I can get it done if I don’t have to take my aquarium outside on the other hand like I said our LRS just re-opened last week for fresh water, but not yet salt water and I have no idea if or how long or how much it would take to replace this aquarium. What would you do

 

[MoshJosh]

I would get a new aquarium from petco or pet smart, 75 gallon will fit the same foot print if 90 isn't available (obviously not ideal). To release the aquarium you will need to remove ALL the silicone (excluding the silicone sandwiched between the glass), not just the leaking silicone. Then apply all new silicone to the entire tank. This is, in my experience, not a quick or easy process. The quickest option is a new tank.

 

[Soilworker]

Dang, that sucks!

One thing I'd recommend for the Rubbermaid water trough is to build a PVC platform for your skimmer if you have one. Just 4 3-way unions and sections of pvc to make a cube. Zip tie some egg crate over the top and your skimmer can sit on top of it...you'll have to tweak the height a bit. This will help your water stay cleaner and oxygenated. Just a recommendation of something I've done.

 

[Amy406]

You’ve done this 70 times, I believe I know where the leak is, I know I have to remove all the caulk in order to start over again and it would have to be super clean. I don’t know if I’m able to get the right supplies to re-seal it. The other problem is on the other side is that our LRS just re-opened last week for fresh water, but not yet salt water and I have no idea if or how long or how much it would take to replace this aquarium

I would get a new aquarium from petco or pet smart, 75 gallon will fit the same foot print if 90 isn't available (obviously not ideal). To release the aquarium you will need to remove ALL the silicone (excluding the silicone sandwiched between the glass), not just the leaking silicone. Then apply all new silicone to the entire tank. This is, in my experience, not a quick or easy process. The quickest option is a new tank.

100% get that but are Petsmart is tiny and doesn’t stock tanks like this at all and we don’t have a Petco and my LRS just re-opened last week and are not yet doing salt water, they’re only doing freshwater at the moment. I’m waiting for a message back to see if they will be able to replace it. I’m only looking for quick and easy with the understanding of doing it correctly so that means just doing it right the first time if I were to reseal the tank and I would trust that I could do it right but the peace of mind would probably not be there and I would probably be worried all the time so I’m trying really hard to find another take . Wish me luck lol

 

[Amy406]

Dang, that sucks!

One thing I'd recommend for the Rubbermaid water trough is to build a PVC platform for your skimmer if you have one. Just 4 3-way unions and sections of pvc to make a cube. Zip tie some egg crate over the top and your skimmer can sit on top of it...you'll have to tweak the height a bit. This will help your water stay cleaner and oxygenated. Just a recommendation of something I've done.

Thank you that really helps, I’ll see if I can get that together for my skimmer.